[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 11 (Monday, March 18, 2002)]
[Page 419]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the Congress Transmitting the Australia-United States Social 
Security Agreement

March 12, 2002

To the Congress of the United States:

    Pursuant to section 233(e)(1) of the Social Security Act, as amended 
by the Social Security Amendments of 1977 (Public Law 95-216, 42 U.S.C. 
433(e)(1)), I transmit herewith the Agreement Between the Government of 
the United States of America and the Government of Australia on Social 
Security, which consists of two separate instruments: a principal 
agreement and an administrative arrangement along with a paragraph-by-
paragraph explanation of each provision. The Agreement was signed at 
Canberra on September 27, 2001.
    The United States-Australia Agreement is similar in objective to the 
social security agreements already in force with Austria, Belgium, 
Canada, Chile, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Korea, 
Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, 
Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Such bilateral agreements provide 
for limited coordination between the United States and foreign social 
security systems to eliminate dual social security coverage and 
taxation, and to help prevent the lost benefit protection that can occur 
when workers divide their careers between two countries. The United 
States-Australia Agreement contains all provisions mandated by section 
233 and other provisions that I deem appropriate to carry out the 
purposes of section 233, pursuant to section 233(c)(4).
    I also transmit for the information of the Congress a report 
prepared by the Social Security Administration explaining the key points 
of the Agreement. Annexed to this report is the report required by 
section 233(e)(1) of the Social Security Act, a report on the effect of 
the Agreement on income and expenditures of the U.S. Social Security 
program and the number of individuals affected by the Agreement. The 
Department of State and the Social Security Administration have 
recommended the Agreement and related documents to me.
    I commend the United States-Australia Social Security Agreement and 
related documents.
                                                George W. Bush
 The White House,
 March 12, 2002.

Note: This message was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
March 14.